1. The Parliamentary Assembly, referring
to Resolution 2216 (2018) on
follow-up to the report of the Independent Investigation Body on
the allegations of corruption within the Parliamentary Assembly,
affirms its determination to promote an atmosphere of zero tolerance
for corruption and to fully recover its institutional and political
credibility within the Council of Europe. It recalls the decisions
it has taken to deal with the allegations of corruption and fostering
of interests made against some of its members or former members, which
have led it to improve its integrity and transparency framework.

2. On 22 April 2018, the Independent Investigation Body with
regard to allegations of corruption within the Parliamentary Assembly
(IBAC), set up a year earlier on the Assembly’s initiative to conduct
a detailed independent investigation into the allegations of corruption
and fostering of interests, delivered its report.

3. As the IBAC acknowledges, “the Parliamentary Assembly is to
be commended for its courage in reacting to these allegations and
making clear its determination not to tolerate corruption within
its ranks. It has done so not only by inviting GRECO [the Group
of States against Corruption] to assess and recommend improvements
to the regulatory framework governing the conduct of members of
the Assembly but by responding to the call, made both inside and
outside the institution itself, for an independent investigation
of the allegations of corruption and other forms of unethical conduct.
In doing so, it has set an example to other national and international
institutions confronted with similar grave challenges” (report of
the Independent Investigation Body on the allegations of corruption
within the Parliamentary Assembly, paragraph 759).

4. The Assembly intends to draw all the necessary consequences,
on all levels, from the recommendations and conclusions of the IBAC’s
report, be they the recommendations aimed at improving its general
operating framework and at remedying shortcomings in the transparency
of parliamentary procedures, or the conclusions criticising the
conduct of some members or former members of the Assembly who had
conflicts of interest and breached the Assembly’s rules of conduct.

5. The Assembly nevertheless notes that, although the IBAC cannot
provide proof of the existence of a co-ordinated network of corruption
within the Assembly, the failings of some members and former members
clearly involve corrupt practices extending far beyond the scope
of the Parliamentary Assembly and, indeed, the parliamentary environment
itself: they were only possible, and might still persist, as a result
of the direct involvement, the active support or, at the very least,
the culpable abstention of governments of Council of Europe member
States. The Assembly deplores this behaviour and invites these governments
to take appropriate action.

6. The Assembly therefore invites the Committee of Ministers
to take due stock of the steps taken by the Assembly since January
2017 and to support it in its efforts. “The fight against corruption
… is not one for the Assembly alone”, as the IBAC stresses.